Presented at Division for Early Childhood

International Conference on Young Children with Special Needs and Their Families

October, 2010

Building a Quality Measurement System

Kathy Hebbeler

Early Childhood Outcomes Center

SRI International

"Success should be judged by results, and data is a powerful tool to determine results.  We can't ignore facts.  We can't ignore data."

President Barack Obama July 24, 2009

2Early Childhood Outcomes Center

System for Producing Good Child and Family Outcomes

Good Federal

policies and programs

Good State policies

and programs

High quality services and supports for children 0-5

and their families

Good outcome

s for children

and families

Good Local policies

and programs

Information infrastructure

Evidence Based Practice

Adequate funding

Strong Leadership

Prof’l Development•Preservice•Inservice

A good information infrastructure is an essential tool to providing high quality

services and supports.

4Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 5

Early Childhood Information Infrastructure:

Data Needed for Program Improvement

WHO SERVICES

COSTPERSONNEL

OUTCOMES

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 6

A Framework and Self Assessment

for Building a Child Outcomes

Measurement System

Purpose of the Framework

• Provide a common language for ECO and other TA providers to use in discussing COMSs with states.

• Provide a organizing structure of categorizing resources and state examples related to implementation of a COMS.

• Serve as the organizing structure for the self assessment

7Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Framework and Self-Assessment

• FRAMEWORK– Set of components and quality indicators– Provides the structure for the self-assessment

• SELF-ASSESSMENT – Scale that provides criteria for levels of

implementation within each quality indicator– Rating assigned based on level of

implementation within each indicator 8

Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Process for Framework Development

• Built off what we had learned from ECO work with states and previous ECO conceptual framework

• Literature review• Repeated discussion and

review internally and with 7 Partner States

9

Framework Partner States

State Part C 619

California X

Colorado X X

Delaware X X

Maine X X

Minnesota X X

New York X

Ohio X X

10

Early Childhood Outcomes Center11

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 12

The state has effective procedures for collecting,

storing, and transmitting data to the state.

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 13

State coordinates child outcomes measurement and data use across EC

systems.

Quality Indicator

• Provides additional detail as to what constitutes quality implementation of the component.

• 18 quality indicators across the 7 components

14Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Quality Indicators for Data Collection and Transmission

2. Data collection procedures are carried out efficiently and effectively.

3. Providers, supervisors, and others involved in data collection have the required knowledge, skills, and commitment.

4. State's method for entering, transmitting, and storing data is effective and efficient.

15Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Structure of Self Assessment

• Components (7) = Major areas of framework

– Quality Indicators (18 total) = Statements of basic requirements of a quality COMS

• Elements (number varies with each indicator) = Define what constitutes high quality on the Quality Indicator.

16Early Childhood Outcomes Center

17Early Childhood Outcomes Center

18Early Childhood Outcomes Center

19

20Early Childhood Outcomes Center

The Scale for the Quality Indicators

21Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Implementation of Elements

Quality Indicator

ScoreAll elements are fully implemented 7

Nearly all elements are fully implemented and the rest are in process 6Most of the elements are fully implemented and the rest are in process. 5

At least one element is fully implemented and the rest are in process 4

All of the elements are in process 3

Some of the elements are in process 2

None of the elements are yet in process 1

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 22

Recommended State Approach for Using the Self Assessment

1. Complete the entire self assessment.

2. Identify the component(s) and quality indicators to address first.

3. Develop action plan to improve the related elements.

4. Implement improvement activities.

5. Re-assess status and identify “next step” priorities at regular intervals

23Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Next steps for ECO in developing the self assessment

• Populate the COMS framework with resources related to the components

• Revise the self assessment based on feedback

• Develop a framework for a Family Outcomes Measurement System

24Early Childhood Outcomes Center

For more information

• For updates to the framework and the self-assessment and resources to support the quality indicators:

www.the-eco-center.org

25Early Childhood Outcomes Center